GW 9 Review: The Goalless Gameweek

Three goalless draws, the fewest number of goals and the most clean sheets this season. As you can
see above, this weekend’s Premier League action was less than a goalfest. This
was great news if you have a defence and goalkeeper that kept clean sheets, but
if not then chances are you had a boring weekend and suffered red arrows on Sunday evening.

The defences
in question include Spurs and Arsenal who played out goalless draws on
Saturday, along with a victorious Chelsea on Sunday. This meant the 3 top point-scoring defenders and the top two highest owned (Walker and Bellerin) all
scored at least 6 points. Those with premium defences would’ve been pleased.

Budget
defences fared well too, as clean sheets for Bournemouth, Middlesbrough, Watford, Swansea, West Ham and
Stoke offered points for 4.6 defenders and below. Overall, it was a good
weekend for the popular FPL defences. Food for thought: keep up with the high
ownership defenders/defences so you do not get left behind.

Coutinho the Stand-Out Midfielder

With 9
gameweeks gone there have been no shortage of surprises in the midfield
department. First Raheem Sterling was unusually productive in front of goals,
then Theo Walcott over-performed for Arsenal, and Etienne Capoue and Joe Allen briefly hitting the
goal trail, but the biggest surprise of all midfielders so far has arguably been
the consistency of Phillipe Coutinho.The ‘Brazilian
playmaker’ has so far lived up to his billing with numbers to back up his
continually impressive performances, whereas in past seasons he has shown
glimpses of his abundant talent but has not had regular goals and assists. Things
have changed under Klopp, who has made him a more direct attacker. There is a
real case now for Coutinho as the number one Liverpool mid. Lesson learned: Do
not be stubborn in your selections. Doubt Coutinho at your peril, FPL-ers.

Aguer-nonono!

‘Aguero is
essential’. ‘Aguero is fixture-proof’. ‘Always Captain Aguero’. Our fantasy
principles are being questioned, but not like they normally are. We know Aguero
to be the most prolific and reliable player in the game, but he has failed to
score in three straight games for the first time since December 2015. While it would be
a knee-jerk move to sell Aguero, managers will now be wise to think twice about
giving him the captain’s armband every week, especially with Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard in
such good form.